With me it was always a case of
BTW, just as a side-note to taking meds:
When I was first diagnosed and given a prescription, I was given Ritalin. Really didn’t agree with me - heart palpitations with no discernable positive effects. Then they put me on low-dosage Adderall, and I noticed a slight improvement in my ability to concentrate, but I became jittery and very irritable.
It’s when they upped my dose (and I can’t remember the exact dosage - 75 mg?) that everything started to come together. You’d think when taking a higher grain of (basically) amphetamines, the jitteriness would have increased proportionally.
Anyone else experience this?
Excuse the flippancy. Some of this sounds too much like me. I think I’m just too old, too set in my ways, and possibly much too cowardly, to seek proper diagnosis, therapy, or medication. Either that, or I’m a somewhat deficient and unlovely personality, and clinical diagnosis would only confirm that I do not in fact have ADD with or without the /H, or any other odd medical condition, and the entire problem is in my lap and mine alone.
Yours, hoping my coping strategies last me another day at a time,
Doug
Daithi Lacha, for whatever reason, it’s my understanding that people with ADHD respond differently to stimulants than people without. Caffeine is a good example and has been used as a substitute for medication in dire situations. My son, with hyperactive & inattentive ADHD and who doesn’t typically take in much caffeine, calms down significantly with a decent dose of caffeine (if meds aren’t available). For me (fits the profile, but not formally diagnosed) caffeine relaxes me considerably and sort of straightens out my ability to function appropriately, if you know what I mean. Of course, since I take in quite a bit regularly, it may be the withdrawal symptoms that make me jittery without it. Caffeine enhances alertness for most. For those with ADHD, it seems to enhance focus, behaviorally as well as mentally.
I suspect the same goes for stimulant medications.
I do. As stranger mentioned, it’s referred to as hyperfocus and is well-documented. Anything that significantly stimulates the ADHD brain (read: is highly interesting to the subject) can be subject to hyperfocus. The brain focuses on that one area of stimulation to the exclusion of all other stimulation. Computer games are notorious for creating that type of behavior as they require a great deal of concentration which means there’s not a lot left for other stimuli.
I find that because I’m distracted so easily, I tend to use hyperfocus as a coping mechanism. If I really, really want to get something done, I will (but not consciously) essentially shut out awareness of everything going on around me. Only this way can I attack a task with single-minded dedication and finish it. Or, until it becomes no longer that important to me. Hyperfocus can be very positive in some situations, but also have negative effects when you’re in a situation where you are required to juggle many tasks/events and set priority in handling them. Also, it doesn’t take practice; it comes naturally. Even when it’s of no benefit to me. It does seem to take practice to avoid hyperfocus, though.
If you read my post you would see that I did address hyperfocusing, what I was trying to say about this is that a person w/ ADD trait will have a very difficuit time focusing on a single object as a lawn, blade of grass, flower - which could be objects that people may use to induce a meditative state for those w/o ADD. I really don’t consider a hyperfocus on a video game a single object, actually it is another world, full of wonderful things.
Well, I guess you and I understand the term, hyperfocus, differently. I understand it as intense, undistracted concentration. Doesn’t matter if it’s a blank paper or an entire book. What matters is that nothing else distracts attention away from that thing. I’m not sure that it has much to do with seeking a particular level of stimulus, for the most part. At times, there is the need to seek more stimuli. However, there already exists a multitude of stimuli in everyone’s lives. It’s more about what stimulus a person responds to and how. ADHDers are just more affected by stimuli, and the behavior that follows is generally the coping mechanism for dealing with an overload.
I’ve rewritten this about five times, so I hope it makes sense.
**Cinnamon Girl ** It does and I agree with most of what you stated. The only aspect I would look more into is hyperfocusing on a blank paper, for one w/ ADD I would think it’s more ADD-Inattentive then hyperfocusing, but then again if that person created that piece of paper with his own hands, then perhaps hyperfocusing.
I hate to belabor the point here, but you’re still not getting this - or I’m still not getting your comparisons. Please remember we’re talking about an attention disorder. Many people with ADHD hyperfocus, and it has very little to do with whether they have a vested interest in what they’re hyperfocusing on (which is where I THINK you’re going with the concept of the person hyperfocusing on the paper – you ARE saying he or she would be hyperfocusing on it because it has personal value to them, right?) Given the same scenario for me - that blank piece of paper, or even grass growing - I can hyperfocus on it to the exclusion of all else. What I can’t do is unfocus and re-prioritize easily - so if something that requires my attention happens while I’m hyperfocusing, it often doesn’t register with me. People like me tend to be somewhat accident-prone as a result of this. We’re the kind of people who reach over a lit candle to reach something and don’t realize immediately that we’ve set our sleeve on fire. The candle didn’t register, you see?
Oh, believe me-I understand that. I’m talking more about people who say ADHD doesn’t exist at all, and it’s just a lack of discipline, or lazy parents or tv or whatever. THAT pisses me off.
And I didn’t have that hard a time in school-at least not after second grade. My first years were rough before I was diagnosed, and then put on Ritalin and started therapy. I was also lucky to have had Sr. Frances Ramona, my first grade teacher, who worked really hard with me.
But believe me, I went through a year of various tests to determine whether or not I had ADHD, starting late in first grade, and I didn’t get on Ritalin until late in second. In third grade, things really started picking up.
When I was in tenth grade, I started to rebel about taking my medication-for a week I refused it. The result was I couldn’t concentrate in class, I was always hungry-absolutely ravenous, to the point that was I was sneaking snacks between classes, and I failed two tests. I did cut back from two pills to one, and would only take two when I had a big test or something of that nature. But to this day, I notice a big difference when I don’t take my meds.
Even now, I struggle. I have to have very specific directions sometimes, I have to take things step by step, and sometimes I overdo things. When I was working and someone gave me a task to say, dust the shelves, my manager finally had to stop me and say, “You don’t have to get them TOTALLY free of every little speck.” It would take my hours to do a task that others can do in ten minutes. (It doesn’t help that I also have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Like making up my resume-it seems so simple, but I feel so overwhelmed, unless I have specific guidelines.
I want to Thank You for this post. It really helps me understand my son better. He has tried to explain and I have read many a book and article and none entirely made sense until I read this. That entire scenario fits him to a tee. He has gotten much better as he gets older but I feel he will have a least a mild case for the rest of his life. It still amazes me today the stuff he finally “gets” that he never did before just because he missed information because of incidents like the above.
I really think we are closer then it appears. I do understand about HF’ing and how one will lock on to something to the exclusion of others.
What I am trying to say is sometime the HF’ing is external, such as a video game, or hunting an animal. But sometimes it is internal, HF’ing inside one’s mind, also known as inattentive. It all depends on the ‘subject’ one will lock on to, and where that ‘subject’ exists.
The way I see ADD is that there are several ‘modes’ Each mode happens automatically and the person does not have conscience control over it:
Scanning mode = Paying attention to everything - goal is to find something to lock on to
Hyperfocusing mode = Locked on to something of enough interest, excluding others
Inattentive mode = Ingoring all external stimulus, paying attention to multiple thoughts, again goal is to find something to lock into.
Inattentive Hyperfocusing mode = Ignoring all external stimulus, and thoughts locked on a particular subject inside one’s mind, excluding others.
Not a ‘value’, but that object meets the level of stimulation that that person requires for HF’ing to happen.
I totally understand, and agree with what you state.
Again I totally understand this too.
What I think the difference is that you are defining the (your) ‘symptoms’, while I am attempting to come up with a explaination to fit the ‘symptoms’.
The only point I really disagree with you on is, regardless as to what it’s called, I don’t see AD/HD as a true disorder. There are certain advantages to this ‘condition/trait’ as well as drawbacks. Those disadvantages seem to come more into play as society becomes more and more ‘mechinized’ and perdictable.
Thanks for the clarification on hyperfocusing - I don’t know how “officially correct” it is, but now it makes sense, anyway!
I am not sure I would classify it as a disease or disorder either (if I had any say-so in this), but for the purposes of functioning in the world as-is, it can be pretty damned inconvenient. In my perfect world, we’d all be allowed to learn and interact the way our brains would naturally, untreated, but since that is not the case, and since treatment works to minimize the difference, I’d say it’s well worth it to have the treatment.
IANA psychologist or a neurologist, but the “hyperfocus” condition seems similar, at least in concept, to the “obsessive” nature of OCD, in that you are irresistibly compelled to focus your attention on that object, and doing so provides the stimulation to relieve that compulsion.
Perhaps someone who has actually been trained in the relevant disciplines can confirm or deny that hypothesis.
Stranger
Harleen, I don’t have much to add and I think you’ve been (mostly) getting really good advice from the other people here. I mainly want to express agreement with those who’ve said it’s best to see a specialist if you think medication might be needed, rather than just seeing your regular pediatrician. If you live near a major teaching hospital, they might have the best people. Also, if you can find a pediatric psychopharmacologist, that would be a very qualified person. And if they feel your daughter doesn’t need medication or there’s some other reason for not doing it, they will tell you. They won’t push you into doing it just because that’s their specialty.
My son has manic-depression and ADHD and has been taking meds since an early age. At first it was difficult finding the right combination of meds. Finally we found the right combination (via a really great doctor). It’s not a decision to be taken lightly. It takes a while to determine whether a particular med is working and you might have to try a couple of different ones. But if your child needs meds, then once you find the right combination, it will improve life immeasurably for your child. So although I’m very pro-medication when it’s needed, I also know it’s not an easy thing to become involved with. Good luck to you and your daughter!
My son’s math teacher tried to tell me my son needed medication because he wasn’t paying attention. He was in the 3rd grade. I asked to see her medical license and when she couldn’t produce one, I removed him from her class. He’s flourished ever since.
I really don’t understand much about OCD, but see it a bit differently, but there are some simularities. The clasic case of OCD as I see it is someone who must keep checking to make use they turned the water off.
Also I think a question of conscience decision comes into play. Someone with ADD enters a mode where nothing else matters, it’s just you and the deer (hunting example) - the rest of the world does not exist. You and that deer is all there is in your world at that time. Time has no meaning, nor does the physical condition of the hunter. The HF ‘lock-on’ happens automatically.
In OCD, as I see it (and know much less about this then ADD), someone is in the physical world but feels the urge to focus on a certain object and chooses to refocus on that object to satify that urge.
Great post, Guinastasia. You’re also illustrating exactly what I mean when I say ADHD need discipline. It occurred to me that a better term for what I’m describing is a “Structured Environment”. People hear “Discipline” and they immediately think “Spankings”. That’s not what I mean, though.
In my observation (confirmed by several ADHD friends,) ADHD kids generally do much better in a well structured environment, where guidlines are very specific, as you describe above. Odd as it sounds, so many people experience ADHD for years without hearing this information. IMO, any parent who is told their kid has ADHD should start working with their kid immediately on learning to structure their environment and the way they interact with the world. For many, this would be enough.
I learned in high school that I required this sort of approach more than other people. One of my teachers assisted me by helping break my homework down into specific step by step instructions, which made homework much more achievable for me. The next step was to learn to do it myself. I’ve been pretty successful ever since by learning this process. I honestly don’t know if I had (or have) ADHD, but I’m pretty bitter about the specialists, the teachers and other quacks I saw who would quickly diagnose me as ADHD and try to push pills on me, when all I really needed was a coping strategy.
I suspect a lot of the “ADHD doesn’t exist” crowd comes from people who have had experiences like me.
I wouldn’t call it a disease or a disorder. That makes ADHD kids into unnecessary victims, IMO. I would call ADHD a characteristic. Like height, hair color, nose length, etc. ADHD may be an inconvenient characteristic, but height can be too (says the six foot seven guy.)
That would work for me, though I use the term ‘trait’ instead, as it denotes a genetic link away from the ‘bad parent’ line of thought.
Here’s the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for OCD.
Many people think that a tendency to be worried about whether they’ve locked the door or turned off the faucet is OCD. That, however, is properly classified as an anxiety that is perhaps caused by a neurosis (if you have to pathologize it), and frankly, we’ve all done it at some point or another.
The obsessive component of OCD is a, well, obsession with some object, detail, or action that compels (hence, compulsion) the sufferer to take some action to negate the obsession. A classic case might be someone who has to open and close a door a set number of times in order to be “certain” that the door is closed, or the Howard Hughes-esque fear of bacteria and the bizzare and often tangential measures taken to “prevent” contact with germs. (BTW, despite the portrayal in the recent movie, it has never really been ascertained that Hughes suffered from OCD. Another theory is that he was in the advanced stages of syphilis contracted in his early twenties.)
In a somewhat similar sense, an ADHD might seek out an activity or item to focus on in order to relieve the overload of sensations and inputs from the outside world. I know that by opening a book and digging firmly into a story I can “escape” from a crowded, clastrophobic room and ease my sense of anxiousness, and although the behavior isn’t compulsive in the sense of being repetitive, I will go through a kind of ritual–first skimming extremely quickly over the first paragraph several times before settling in–that helps me dispense with the pent-up anxiety.
Like I said, I’m not a shrink or a neuron-counter so this isn’t any kind of expert opinion, and if someone who is a professional comes along and calls bullshit I’ll be happy to admit I’m all wet on this, but that particular component seems to have a lot of similarity between the two conditions.
Stranger
**Stranger On A Train **
Thanks for that, OCD does not sound like hyperfocusing to me.